Molson Weekend Summary Jan. 31, 2010

This weekend the Memorial Sea~Hawks were in action in wrestling, volleyball and wrestling. A contingent of six male wrestlers participated in the UNB Open in Fredericton. The volleyball teams finished their home schedule with a weekend series against the UNB Varsity Reds while the basketball teams were off to Sydney to take on the Cape Breton Capers.

Wrestling


The Memorial wrestling team saw their first action since the Concordia Open in October as they travelled to the UNB Open in Fredericton. The Sea~Hawks travelled with six male wrestlers competing in different weight classes.
Fourth year Matt Kippenhuck wrestled his way to a bronze medal in the 61 kg weight.


Wrestling at 61kg Matt Kippenhuck wrestled his way to a bronze medal.
Kippenhuck’s first match was a close battle with Black Bear Wrestling Club’s Andy Sandford. With Kippenhuck up 3 to 1 with approximately 25 seconds left, Sandford came back and tied the match up at three, before completing the comeback to take the victory. Kippenhuck’s second match was against CIS and national champion, Promise Mwenga of UNB. Even though Kippenhuck put up a good fight he fell to Mwenga in the first round.

Representing MUN on the mats for the first time were Jeremy Spence at 68kg and Ronald Earle at 72kg. Spence wrestled five matches, wrestling his best in the last match only giving up two points in the first round and five points in the second. Earle wrestled four matches, only to lose by points. Earle did not give up a pin all meet.

As the youngest on the team, Robbie Zadra grappled with wrestlers from UNB and the Metro Amateur Wrestling Club (MAWC). His closest match was against MAWC, where it played out similar to Kippenhuck’s match where the final score was three to three in the favour of the opponent.

At 90 kg Grand Falls-Windsor native Ryan Nichols placed fourth. With three wrestlers from UNB and one wrestler from Rikidokan Wrestling Club in his weight class, Nichols proved to be strong against the rival UNB.

Finally at 130 kg, Jon Smith placed fourth out of nine competitors. Smith wrestled all the way to the bronze medal match where he was matched up with UNB’s Mike MacDonald, with Smith getting taken down in a shoulder throw, settling for a respectable fourth place finish.

On Sunday, the only Sea~Hawk eligible to participate in the Eastern Canadian Championships did not disappoint, with Robbie Zadra taking home a silver medal in the 76 kg weight class.


Women’s Volleyball


Saturday UNB 3 Sea~Hawks 2 boxscore
On Saturday night in front of an energetic crowd at the Field House the Sea~Hawks got out to an early advantage before losing in five sets to UNB. The ‘Hawks opened the match with good execution, taking a close first set 25-23. In the second set UNB settled down with Jillian Blanchard and Tanya Paulin leading the attack in a 25-18 set win. In the third it was back and forth throughout with Memorial coming up with key points to take a 2-1 advantage with a 27-25 set win.


Sarah Strickland was an important part of several Sea~Hawk rallies. The fourth set would be another closely contested one as the Varsity Reds and Sea~Hawks. Late in the set Memorial would have three chances at match point but would not be able to finish off UNB. The Varsity Reds battled back to even the match at two sets and force a fifth, which they would win 15-10 to take the match.


Blanchard had 16 kills and 20 digs to lead UNB.


Strickland was the HITS FM player of the game for Memorial with 8 kills and a big six blocks. Erin Bursey had 13 kills to lead Memorial while Sasha Wilkins had 10. Beth Forsey had 41 assists while Angela Peddle joined Strickland with six assisted blocks of her own.


Saturday UNB 3 Sea~Hawks 0

The Sea~Hawks struggles continued in the second match against the UNB Varsity Reds on Sunday afternoon. The Reds played as a team possessed from the opening point to the final kill, handing the ‘Hawks a loss to the tune of 25-13, 25-14, 25-17.


The Varsity Reds had a well balanced attack from all sides on Sunday afternoon. Barb Vriends was very solid at the net with 9 kills and 3 blocks, left side Jillian Blanchard added 10 kills for the Reds in the win.


Sasha Wilkins sat out in Sunday’s match due to injury and the lack of power hitting hurt the ‘Hawks on the offensive end. Libero Nicole Jolliffe led the way defensively for the Sea~Hawks with 18 digs on the afternoon, earning her player of the game honours for Memorial. Beth Forsey also had a strong showing with 27 assists while Erin Bursey played solid with 8 kills and 13 digs for the Sea~Hawks.


The Sea~Hawks will now travel to St.Francis Xavier next weekend to take on the X-Women for a two game set, start times Saturday at 7pm and Sunday at 11am (AST).


Men's Volleyball


Saturday UNB 3 Memorial 0
The Sea~Hawks took on the rival UNB Varsity Reds on Saturday night at the Field House, with the Varsity Reds taking the match in straight sets 3-0.
The UNB attack, led by Tyler Veenhuis, used their size advantage to jump out early, taking the first set 25-12.


In the second set Memorial played better but could not get over the hump, losing 25-19. Alex Barrett was a bright spot for Memorial in the second set with a couple of important kills to keep the ‘Hawks in it.


The third set played out similarly to the second with the Sea~Hawks showing that they could play with UNB but they were unable to finish some key points when they needed it. The Varsity Reds took the final set 25-20, taking the match in straight sets.


Vennhuis and Julio Fernandez led UNB with 11 kills apiece in the victory.
Sophomore Drew Stephens led Memorial with 7 kills. Scott Hickman had 4 solo blocks while Brad Pitcher had 19 assists. Barrett was HITS FM Player of the Game for Memorial.



Sunday UNB 3 Memorial 1

It was a tough loss for the Sea~Hawks on Sunday despite playing with toughness and taking a hard fought third set, being defeated with set scores of 25-19, 25-18, 25-27, 25-12.

Second year star Drew Stephens was huge for the Sea~Hawks Sunday afternoon, coming up with big plays time after time including two massive blocks and a service ace for a quick three points in the third set. Stephens led all ‘Hawks with 12 kills and 2 solo blocks on the afternoon, a performance which earned him player of the game honours. Libero Brad Pitcher was also a key for the Sea~Hawks, continuing his strong play as of late with 26 assists and 14 digs. Sophomore Scott Hickman also played well, getting a couple of big kills in the exciting third set.

The UNB offensive attack proved to be too much for the ‘Hawks, as AUS All-Star Tyler Veenhuis led the Reds with 19 points on the match. Stephane Fontaine put up good balls all match long, totalling 30 assists for UNB.

This is the last time the men take to the court until Feb 21st for the AUS League Tournament in Fredericton at UNB.


Women's Basketball


Saturday Cape Breton 77 Memorial 53 boxscore
Over the past eight AUS seasons it has been either the Memorial Sea~Hawks or the Cape Breton Capers who have won the conference championship. This weekend the Sea~Hawks travelled to Cape Breton to take on an undefeated Capers team in the only contests between the teams this season.

Heading into the game the Sea~Hawks looked to limit Cape Breton All-Canadian Kelsey Hodgson in an effort to force other Capers to step up and make shots, and make shots they would. The Sea~Hawks would limit Hodgson to a season-low 4 points but the Capers got major contributions from Kari Everett and Jahlica Kirnon, who gave the team a big spark off the bench. The Capers got out to an early lead and did not look back, winning 77-53.

Memorial struggled mightily offensively in the game, shooting only 29% from the field, including making only one of sixteen attempts from three-point territory. From the foul-line they shot only 46% percent.

Kirnon had a game-high 21 points with the Capers bench outscoring the Sea~Hawks 33-4. Everett had 20 points and 7 assists.

Top scorers for Memorial were Ally Forsey with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Grace Fishbein with 13 points.

Sunday Memorial 55 Cape Breton 72 boxscore
It was unfortunately much of the same in the second meeting between the two top teams in the AUS on Sunday afternoon. The Caper’s defence was once again firing on all cylinders, limiting the ‘Hawks to 41% shooting from the field while jumping out to the 36-27 lead at halftime.


The Sea~Hawks offensive struggles continued into the second half as Memorial just couldn’t seem to find their rhythm, only getting to the free throw line five times and converting on only two of their seven three-point attempts. Costly turnovers on Memorial’s side (18 on the game) and an offensive funk made it difficult to come back from the deficit, as the Capers never looked back en route to the win.


Some bright spots for Memorial despite the hard loss was the play of veteran Vicki Thistle who led all scorers with 12 points along with the near double-double from Ally Forsey as she collected 8 rebounds to go with 8 points on the afternoon.


Kesley Hodgson dominated at the offensive end as she bounced back in a big way on Sunday, netting 30 points for the Capers on 12-13 shooting.


The Sea~Hawks now look to next weekend as they travel to Wolfville to take on Acadia for a double header match up. Acadia are currently 7th in the AUS at 3-10, action begins Saturday, Feb 6th at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. (AST).


Men's Basketball


Saturday Cape Breton 118 Memorial 72 boxscore
On Saturday night the Cape Breton Capers with their athleticism to run away from the Sea~Hawks early on their way to a 118-72 victory.

The Capers had seven players in double figures with Jimmy Dorsey leading the way with 24.

Robbie Habib was tops for Memorial with 20 points, including five three-pointers.

The halftime score was 53-32.

Sunday Cape Breton 106 Memorial 70 boxscore
It was another rough outing for the ‘Hawks at the hands of the top-seeded CBU Capers, as Cape Breton once again come out gunning from the jump en route to a 106-70 win.

The Capers had a major defensive effort against the ‘Hawks on Sunday, holding Memorial to just 34% shooting on the day. However, CBU had no answer for 3rd year forward Jason Shepherd as he went off for 32 points and 6 assists for Peter Benoite’s squad. Unfortunately, there was not much else going for the Sea~Hawks on this night, with Robbie Habib being the second leading scorer with 9 points on 4-10 shooting.

The Caper’s play was fuelled by the dominant play of Phillip Nkrumah as he scored 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 5 assists on the night. Jimmy Dorsey also contributed for the Capers with 16 points and 5 rebounds in the win.

Memorial now have the weekend off as they will see action Feb 13th and 14th when they host the UNB Varsity Reds for their final home weekend of the season.